World Trigger: A New Hope
by DooMKrusadeR
Summary: So this is basically just an AU of WT with an OC of mine, Kudoko Taiki. Key events that happened in the canon storyline will also take place here, but with very drastic differences in outcome, due mostly in part to the OC. This Fanfic will try not to break too much lore, but it may become impossible if there isn't enough existing lore on certain things in the first place. Enjoy!
1. The Rise of New Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but my OC and reimagined plot points. All rights go to their respective owners. Please support Ashihara Daisuke by purchasing official World Trigger serializations from trusted sources.

* * *

On a fateful, or some might say fateless, day four years ago, Gates from an unknown world opened over the skies over Mikado City. And from these Gates, came an invasion from the Neighbours. As the Neighbours flooded through the Gates, it seemed as though all hope was lost for the citizens of Mikado City, as even their local military could not fend off these otherworldly invaders.

However, a group of mysterious individuals showed up at the brink of disaster and fought the invaders off. "Leave the Neighbours to us," this group of mysterious individuals had proclaimed, and thus formed the Border Defense Agency, otherwise more commonly known as: Border.

And in the years to come, Border would assume the role of protectors from the Neighbours, developing technologies to not only combat the Neighbours, but to also restrict the Gates, that allowed them to cross into our world, from appearing outside of Mikado City.

Many new stories would unfold, as is the way when life changes as it does, or more specifically, when invaders from another world cross into our world. One such story follows that of a lone Border agent, B-rank agent, Kudoko Taiki.

* * *

"Agent Kudoko, reporting for defense duty!" Taiki greeted his fellow agents on duty as he arrived at the rendezvous.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" The dark blond haired Shooter of Tachikawa Squad, Izumi Kouhei, chuckled a little to himself.

"Cut him some slack, Izumi. He's still fairly new to all this, isn't he?" The short, spiky, brown haired Shooter of Suwa Squad, Tsutsumi Daichi, could not help but chuckle along.

Taiki stood uncomfortably rigid as he awaited instructions from his senior Border agents. Whilst Izumi and Tsutsumi were rather seasoned agents, Taiki had just been promoted to B-rank recently, and this was his first defense duty deployment.

"Fair enough, Tsutsumi-san. Well, congratulations on your promotion, I suppose, first and foremost!" Izumi reached out and gave Taiki a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, good job on getting to B-rank! We could always use more hands on deck when the Neighbours come!" Tsutsumi gave Taiki a warm smile.

"Th-Thanks." Taiki bowed slightly in response to his seniors' kind words, as he loosened up just a little.

"Well, let's get to patrolling, and I'll fill you in on whatever you need to know about defense duty! Tsutsumi-san, can you take the north and north-west sectors on your own?" Izumi activated his trigger, his Trion combat body replacing his physical body, a black long coat with red stripes replacing his casual wear.

"Sure thing. I'll radio in if anything happens. I guess you will be taking the south and south-west sectors?" Tsutsumi also activated his trigger, his casual wear being replaced with his trion body's green, white striped jacket and teal under shirt.

"You got it! And Taiki will take the east sector as soon as I run him through the basics." Izumi turned to Taiki, who followed after his seniors and activated his trigger.

"Trigger activation acknowledged. Scanning user's body. Physical body replacement commencing. Physical body successfully replaced with Trion combat body." Taiki's Trigger ran its first-time activation sequence, as the Trigger's full body scanner covered Taiki in a series of flashes and sparkles.

Unlike Izumi and Tsutsumi, who were part of squads and had squad uniforms, Taiki's Trion body replaced his casual wear with his pre-selected red-on-white attire. The rather brightly coloured uniform striking a huge contrast to his short, kempt black hair and almond brown eyes, Taiki's uniform was not short of the Border emblem patch being present on the shoulder of his right sleeve.

Without wasting anymore time, Izumi led Taiki off to the south sector, while Tsutsumi headed for the north sector on his own. As they walked, Izumi briefly explained what defense duty was for and what they had to look out for. Namely, agents on defense duty had to make sure civilians do not wander into the Forbidden Zone, and to deal with any and all Neighbours that came across from the Gates.

* * *

In the inevitable destruction that followed the Neighbour invasion, which was eventually dubbed, "The First Large-Scale Invasion", Border had built their base, the Border Headquarters (Border HQ), in the center of the destruction. And the remains of the civilian area around the base was cordoned off by Border, so as to restrict Gates from opening up in residential areas, and instead have them open in this area, known as the Forbidden Zone, where civilians no longer resided in, and have Border agents defeat the Neighbours.

In spite of this, there have been previous cases of civilians wandering into the Forbidden Zone, for various reasons, and Border agents have had to rescue unfortunate civilians from Neighbours coming across the Gate.

* * *

"So, I'll head over to the east sector now?" Taiki finally spoke up after Izumi finished his lecture.

"If you have no further questions, yeah!" Izumi gave Taiki a thumbs-up and an approving nod.

"Right, then I'll start making my way over to the east sector, Izumi-senpai." Taiki bowed a little before taking off for the east sector.

Before Izumi could respond, Taiki had already disappeared into the distance.

"Wow, he's enthusiastic." Izumi could not help but chuckle a little to himself as he brought his attention back to his patrol, "Oh, but he called me 'senpai', is he younger than me? Maybe he's the same age as Tokieda? Or maybe Kitora? Hm, or could he have just called me 'senpai' based on our ranks?"

"So, you haven't joined a squad yet, Agent Kudoko1?" The black haired, middle aged Commander of the Self-Defense Unit, Shinoda Masafumi, raised a curious eyebrow at Taiki.

"Well, I haven't found a squad that I particularly want to join, nor has any squad come forward to recruit me. So yeah, I guess I haven't joined a squad yet, Commander Shinoda." Taiki scratched his head absentmindedly as he shrugged at Commander Shinoda.

"Is that so? Should I put word out for you, that you're looking to join a squad? And no need to be so formal whilst we're just chit-chatting, just Shinoda-san2 will do!" Commander Shinoda chuckled at his subordinate's impeccably good mannerisms.

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Comman- er- Shinoda-san. I couldn't possibly ask you to do that much. Even I know that there's a limit to how much people can put up with the treatment I've been receiving from you, sir. And, well, calling me Taiki2 is fine as well, if that's the case." Taiki spoke up after taking a sip from his drink.

"Is that so? Is anyone giving you a hard time for the treatment I've been giving you, Taiki-kun?" Commander Shinoda suddenly realised his actions might have had unfavourable consequences for Taiki.

"No, not really. It's just nobody really dares to recruit an agent that was enlisted and promoted so suddenly, out of nowhere." Taiki gave Commander Shinoda a sheepish smile as he explained his slightly unfortunate predicament, "That, and nobody really wants some no-name, supposed all-rounder with no actual combat experience in their squads, I guess."

* * *

"Hey, we really shouldn't be going into the Forbidden Zone guys!" "Oh, what's the worst that could happen?" "A Neighbour could show up and kill us?!" "Nah! You're worrying too much! We're just taking a quick look around the edges of the Forbidden Zone!" A group of junior high schoolers were buzzing as they made their way into Forbidden Zone.

Normally, most people avoided the Forbidden Zone, opting to go entirely around it, even if they could take really quick shortcuts through it. However, from time to time, foolish people have been found to venture into the Forbidden. This group of junior high schoolers were such an example of those kinds of foolish people.

"Gate activity warning. Gate activity warning. Attention citizens: Gate activity detected in the Forbidden Zone, please take appropriate measures." A siren wailed as an announcement came over the Public Announcement System (P.A. System).

"N-No way! We've barely entered the Forbidden Zone!" "Everyone run for it!" The group of students quickly dissolved into panic as they tried to run from the emerging Neighbour.

"What are civilians doing he-" A Border agent responding to the Gate had arrived, but was caught between the arriving Colossal Neighbour known as Bamster and the panicking group of students. Amidst the chaos, the agent had dropped his Trigger before he got the chance to activate it.

"Taiki, watch out!" Taiki reacted to his classmate's warning just in time, as he jumped out of the way of the Bamster's attack.

"My Trigger!" The helpless Border agent could only watch as the Bamster's attack flung his Trigger away, as he took cover as well.

"Taiki, get away from there!" The Bamster seemed to be fixated on Taiki, as the Colossal Neighbour raised one of its limbs, preparing to strike.

"You! Get away from there quick! The rest of you, get to cover! Quickly!" The Border agent barked from behind cover, as he tried to search for his misplaced Trigger.

As the colossal limb hovered over Taiki, he spotted the Trigger by the Bamster's other limb. Taking a moment to think, he made a dive straight for the Trigger, as the Bamster's limb came crashing down where Taiki just stood mere moments ago.

"Trigger on!" Taiki recited the activation phrase he had heard before on television, as he gripped the Trigger in his hand, under the belly of the Bamster.

"You fool! Not everyone can use a Trigger! Just get away from there!" The Border agent shouted in disbelief, as he saw the student attempting to activate his Trigger, standing right underneath the Bamster.

"Trigger activation acknowledged. New user detected. Running Trion compatibility scan. Trion compatibility positive. Generating a new Trion combat body. New Trion combat body generated. Commencing exchange of physical body with Trion combat body. Trion combat body exchange complete." A series of flashes and sparkles enveloped Taiki's body as he activated the Trigger.

"N-No way." The Border agent could only stare in further disbelief as he watched the student activate his Trigger without issue.

"New user tutorial commencing. Available active Trigger options are: Scorpion and Shield. Optional Trigger option Bagworm is also available." The Trigger informed Taiki as soon as the Trion body replacement was completed.

Before Taiki had the time to do anything, the Bamster had already gotten into position for another attack as it had already started charging up what appeared to be a beam attack.

"Shield!" Taiki yelled as the beam launched, bringing his hands in front of him, a green Trion barrier materialising just in time to protect him from the beam attack.

"Scorpion!" Taiki summoned a Trion dagger in each of his hands as soon as the beam attack ended.

Wasting no time, Taiki quickly lunged at the Bamster, slashing at its limbs with the Scorpion daggers. However, it seemed as though his attacks were not doing anything to the Colossal Neighbour.

"You can't just cut through the Bamster's thick armour with a Scorpion like that! Scorpion blades aren't strong enough!" The Border agent shouted at Taiki.

Ignoring the Border agent, Taiki lept back from the Bamster as it brought up the limb Taiki was slashing, preparing to make a counter-attack. As the Bamster brought its limb crashing down, Taiki jumped and dodged it, landing on the Bamster's limb. Before anybody, or anything could react, Taiki leapt off the Bamster's limb and decisively struck the weird eye-looking orb that previously charged the beam attack. As Taiki landed in a bit of a crumple, the orb split, and Trion started spewing out of it, as the Bamster came crashing down. The Colossal Neighbour's lifeless form missed Taiki by a few centimeters as Taiki picked himself up.

* * *

"W-What just happened?" The black haired, short and stout Chief of Research and Development from Border's Headquarter (R&D Chief), Kinuta Motokichi, gasped at the camera footage and data that was being displayed on the various displays in the Border Command Center.

"D-Did a civilian just eliminate a Bamster?" The faded brown haired, lanky and frail Chief of Media Countermeasures (PR Chief), Netsuki Eizou, was equally shocked by the scene that just unravelled before them.

"Send Arashiyama Squad in for clean up. Bring the civilians in for 'protection', but bring that boy to me." Commander Shinoda nodded in satisfaction, as his purple haired aid, Sawamura Kyouko, contacted the operator of Arashiya Squad and relayed the orders.

"Commander Shinoda? Bring the boy to you? Why?" R&D Chief Kinuta stood up from his seat in shock.

"You aren't subjecting that boy to 'protection', Commander Shinoda?" PR Chief Netsuki was equally in shock.

"Are you planning on recruiting him?" The slick backed black haired Commander-in-Chief of Border's Headquarter, Kido Masamune, scoffed at his subordinate, his usually stone-cold expression became one of slight amusement.

"Would you allow it, Commander-in-Chief Kido?" Commander Shinoda also had a slight grin as he regarded his superior officer.

"The next official enlistment happens in a month and a half's time, but I'm assuming you want me to make an exception for this boy?" Commander-in-Chief Kido stroked the scar running down the left side of his face as he considered the option.

"You don't have to make the decision now, sir. I'd like to run him through our enlistment tests first, and you can make your decision after that, how does that sound?" Commander Shinoda's grin grew a little bigger, as he anticipated the boy's arrival.

"Well, if he can exceed the top ten percent of agents' performance, I'll make an exception for him." Commander-in-Chief Kido huffed as he got up from his seat and started to vacate the Command Center.

"Yes sir!" Commander Shinoda saluted his superior before he returned to complete the rest of his responsibilities.

In this rather unique and bizzare sequence of events, both R&D Chief Kinuta and PR Chief Netsuki could do nothing but stare dumbfoundedly at each other.

"Commander Shinoda, may I be allowed to watch the boy later?" Sawamura looked to her superior, her curiousity betraying her attempt to look nonchalant.

"You're interested too, Sawamura-kun? Haha! Sure thing!" Commander Shinoda could not help but laugh in approval as even his aid seemed interested in this new prospective agent.

"Well, it's not everyday you want to enlist an agent ahead of the regular enlistment day, sir! You must see something in him, don't you!" Sawamura could not help but give in to her curiousity and anticipation, even as she was going through the last bits of her work.

* * *

"Eh?! We're supposed to bring this kid to Commander Shinoda instead of subjecting him to 'protection'?" The short black haired female agent of Arashiyama Squad, Kitora Ai, shouted a little at her operator, after receiving her orders.

"Aw, why're you shouting at me, Ai-chan? I didn't do anything!" Arashiyama Squad's operator, Ayatsuji Haruka, whinnied back at Kitora over their communications, pouting to herself at her operator's table.

"Haha, now now you two! Commander Shinoda must have a good reason to issue such an order, so let's just follow through with it. If you're that curious, Kitora, you're free to escort him back ahead of us!" The messy black haired leader of Arashiyama Squad, Arashiyama Jun, chuckled as his teammates bantered with each other.

* * *

"How've you been Taiki? Or should I call you 'B-rank's lone wolf agent'?" Commander Shinoda chuckled as he walked up to Taiki in the Border cafeteria.

"I guess my reputation precedes me. I've been doing well, Shinoda-san." Taiki could not help but sigh in spite of his smile, at his superior's obvious jab.

"That's good to hear. As much as I can't say I'm too happy with you running solo, I must admit you aren't doing too badly, for what it's worth." Commander Shinoda and Taiki headed over to the cafeteria counter as they chatted.

"Well, at this point, it's even harder for me to join any squad, if anyone even wanted me. I mean, I haven't had the best record when it comes to working with others, particularly during the few deployments I've had with other agents." Taiki scoffed at his inability to work with others, as he picked up a sandwich and a drink.

"Ah, that is true too, I guess. Some of the reports I've received about you definitely do not have very nice things to say about the way you operate." Commander Shinoda could not help but laugh a little sheepishly, opting for some pasta and coffee for his meal.

"Well, I can't imagine it being too smooth on your end either, Shinoda-san. Dealing with reports like those can't really be too pleasant all the time. Sorry 'bout that." Taiki bowed a little embarrassedly before sitting down.

"Oh, no worries, Taiki-kun! They aren't really that bad at all! Well, most of them anyway. But that aside, are you fine with not being able to move up to A-rank?" Commander Shinoda set down his pasta and coffee on the table as he settled into his seat as well.

"Yeah? I don't see much of a point in moving up to A-rank. I'm already an official agent at B-rank, I'm one of the few all-rounders around, plus I'm decently ranked on solo rankings. I'm fine with the way things are." Taiki took a bite out of his sandwich before speaking.

"Hahaha! Indeed, you aren't doing too badly on the solo ranking ladders. But don't you have any intentions of joining the Away Squad?" Commander Shinoda took a sip of his coffee before starting on his pasta.

* * *

"I'm Kudoko Taiki, nice to meet everyone." Taiki introduced himself in front of a small crowd consisting of Commander-in-Chief Kido, Commander Shinoda and Kitora.

"Nice to meet you too, Kudoko-kun. I'm the Commander of the Self-Defense Unit here at Border." Commander Shinoda quickly introduced himself, before introducing everyone else that was present, "Now, I'm sure you're curious as to why you're here, but let me first ask you something. Do you know what you did back there? Concerning the Neighbour."

"I killed a Bamster? I believed it was called a Bamster?" Taiki could not help but feel extremely nervous at this strange series of events that were happening.

"Yes, you did. With no prior training, or even knowledge of Border's Trigger to boot. So you could say what you did was quite the feat!" Commander Shinoda reached out to shake Taiki's hand, to which Taiki responded with a firm handshake.

"Th-Thanks? But, erm, what is all this about?" Taiki stared worriedly at each individual present.

The scariest person would probably be the man with a huge scar running down his face. Taiki could not shake the feeling that the Commander-in-Chief, as Commander Shinoda had introduced, would snap at him if he was not careful with his words. Commander Shinoda himself seemed like a decent man, at least he seemed the friendliest out of everyone present. And finally, Agent Kitora of Arashiyama Squad. Whilst Taiki had seen her on television before, this was his first time coming face-to-face with the girl, and she definitely did not seem as pleasant as she normally did on television.

"Well, I think you have the potential to become quite the Border agent, so I was hoping to recruit you!" Commander Shinoda smiled widely, as he present a Trigger to Taiki, "This Trigger has Scorpion and Asteroid loaded, and will be the primary Trigger options you will be using for the majority of this procedure."

"Eh? Scorpion AND Asteroid, Commander Shinoda? But isn't he just a civilian?" Kitora voiced her rather obvious objections to her superior.

Whilst Kitora herself used Scorpion alongside Asteroid, she had been with Border for quite a while till that point. Climbing to B-rank as a Gunner, Kitora later switched to becoming an Attacker, due to her smaller-than-average Trion levels. As a Gunner would require a larger amount of Trion, Kitora had struggled with her Trion levels before switching over to being an Attacker. And in the time since she made the switch, Kitora has become quite proficient in fighting with Scorpion alongside a handgun Trigger utilising Asteroid. With all that being said, Kitora's surprise and disbelief could be said to be more than just her pride not wanting to accept that there might be someone more talented than herself.

"Well, I think Kudoko-kun might be able to do it! After all, he had no problems eliminating a Bamster all by himself with no prior training." Commander Shinoda's smile could hardly get any bigger, as Taiki accepted the Trigger presented to him, "Oh, but of course, I'll give you a quick rundown of what Asteroid is, Kudoko-kun."

"No need, Commander Shinoda. I think I'll be able to figure it out on my own." Taiki politely declined the offer, as he could feel Kitora's displeasure.

Before anyone could say anything, Taiki activated his Trigger and walked into the Virtual Combat Training Room behind him.

"Eh? Isn't he a little cocky, Commander Shinoda?" Kitora was hardly trying to hide her displeasure at this point.

"Well, I think he's just slightly put off by your hostility, Kitora-kun." Commander Shinoda chuckled as he spoke into his headset, "Sawamura-kun, please commence the tests!"

"Yes sir!" Sawamura activated the Training Room from the control room.

As per the standard selection process, Taiki first had to go up against a virtually replicated Bamster. Seeing as he had already beaten an actual Bamster just moments before this test, it was needless to say he aced this test with no issues, without even using Asteroid.

Following which, Taiki was put through a somewhat improvised test, following this unique turn of events. Whilst most trainees would have the option to spar against each other, at this point, in Solo Rank Wars, Taiki currently did not have that luxury of facing off other trainees. Instead, Taiki had a 10-round duel with Kitora alone. However, seeing as Kitora was an official agent and Taiki was not, the conditions of this Solo Rank War were a little different. Normally, when two agents duel in Solo Rank Wars, they would lose or win points from each other. These points determine their Solo Rank, as well as their rankings as agents. All C-rank trainees are able to promote to B-rank if they have at least 4000 points. Most trainees start of at 1000 points, but for a prodigy like Kitora, she started upwards of 3000 points and was promoted to B-rank rather quickly.

The conditions for this 10-round duel were that Kitora would only be allowed to use the Trigger options that Taiki had available, namely Scorpion and Asteroid. Secondly, Kitora would not be losing points to Taiki in the event that she lost to him. And finally, with every win that Taiki would be able to get off Kitora, he would be awarded 300 points, meaning if Taiki managed to beat Kitora in all 10 rounds, he would be promoted to B-rank immediately.

Of course, things wouldn't go that smoothly for Taiki, as he proceeded to concede the first two rounds to Kitora, without putting up much of a fight. How could he, after all? Kitora was not only considered a prodigy, but compared to Taiki, she had much more combat experience than him. Victory was to be expected as Kitora cut down Taiki easily in the first two rounds.

However, in the third round, Kitora had almost lost as Taiki finally used Asteroid. Having no clue how Asteroid worked, he could only guess how it was used after having been shot at by Kitora's own Asteroid for two rounds, before roughly reverse engineering Asteroid's possible usage.

* * *

"Wow, you're top of the year again, Taiki?" "Must be nice to be born a genius, huh?" "Good job on scoring well for your tests again, Kudoko-kun!" Taiki was a bright boy, to say the very least. In all his years as a student, there was never a year where he was not the top scorer of his year. He had a lot of admirers due to his grades, but just as many enemies as well. After all, people were bound to get jealous of his unsurpassable 'intelligence'.

There had been more than one incident of Taiki being accused of cheating, and more than one incident of other students trying to frame Taiki of cheating. However, In all those incidents, Taiki had always been able to prove his innocence, even when some of the faked evidence seemed insurmountable.

Whilst calling Taiki a genius would not be incorrect, his intelligence was something that most people outside of Border would not be able to fully understand. Having a naturally high Trion level, Taiki was also born with a unique ability, that he would later find out was dubbed, a Side Effect.

Under Border's records, people with higher levels of Trion would sometimes possess some kind of a 'special ability' granted by the high levels of Trion. Taiki was one such individual, even if he himself was unaware of it.

Taiki's Side Effect was Heightened Intelligence. Whilst it might seem like Taiki was merely smarter than most, his Side Effect was not that simple. Aside from being smarter than most, Heightened Intelligence also allowed Taiki to be able to better control his emotions unlike most people. When Taiki deems it necessary, he is able to more or less put aside his emotions, allowing him to think and plan with higher clarity. Where someone else might be overcome with rage or sadness and become unable to think rationally, Taiki would have no problems putting the rage or sadness aside and instead continue to think rationally.

Of course, this has led Taiki to become a little more of a loner at times, as he started to put aside emotions that he deemed more or less unnecessary in exchange for rationality. This has caused him to seem unfriendly to most, as he hardly ever considers another party's feelings, if he deems them unnecessary of such concern.

* * *

"Wow, Kudoko-kun almost beat Kitora-kun there!" Commander Shinoda watched the duel between the two excitedly, as Commander-in-Chief Kido could not help but be slightly impressed at Taiki's display.

"I was not expecting him to use Asteroid at all. I guess he even managed to figure out Asteroid all by himself?" Commander-in-Chief mused aloud as the fourth round began.

* * *

Despite having a rough idea on how to use Asteroid, Taiki struggled with it in the fourth round, and still put up quite a fight before inevitably losing to Kitora. What Taiki lacked in experience, Kitora more than took advantage of and punished Taiki for every little mistake he made. However, things were about to change as they entered the fifth round.

With nothing but a rough idea and some ingenuity, Taiki managed to pull of an upset and beat Kitora. With the knowledge that Asteroid was a Trigger that could be manifested and shot as is, or utilised by a Gun Type Trigger and shot through that, Taiki came to understand the difference in how Kitora used her Asteroid, versus how he could use his.

Merely unleashing a huge, uncontrolled barrage in the third round, he almost beat Kitora based on the suddenness and sheer firepower, but unfortunately for Taiki, Kitora was more than capable of evading most of the amateur barrage before landing the finishing move on him. In the round following that, Taiki realised he could somewhat control the flight speed and size of his Asteroid projectiles. With that knowledge, he set-up a slightly different firing pattern from before, changing the speeds of nearly each pellet he shot out, hoping to throw off Kitora. However, Kitora had no problems maneuvering through his barrage again.

In the fifth round, Taiki decided on a different approach entirely, as he decided to bring the fight into a melee. While he did not have as much experience as Kitora, he was still able to match Kitora blow for blow, strike for strike, as he kept her in a melee. Right as Kitora thought she had an opening and was about to go for the finishing blow, an Asteroid flew out from behind Taiki, decimating Kitora at such a close range.

* * *

"That's impressive, isn't it, Commander-in-Chief Kido? Not many people can go toe-to-toe with Kitora-kun and win like that." Commander Shinoda nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmph. That's still a score of 4 to 1. If he doesn't win at least half of the matches, I'll leave him to the official enlistment procedure in a month and a half's time." Commander-in-Chief Kido kept his face straight, completely hiding the fact that, he too, was quite impressed by the boy's adaptability.

* * *

Taiki won the sixth round as well, as he manipulated his Asteroid to move slowly, so as to create a sort of shield around him as he attacked Kitora relentlessly. Kitora could only defend as she not only had to fend off Taiki's Scorpion strikes, but also had to worry about avoiding the Asteroids Taiki put all around himself. Before Kitora could react, Taiki had summoned another Asteroid with normal speed, and shot Kitora down.

Without losing momentum, Taiki proceeded to win the next three rounds as well, each time coming up with a new strategy. Without Kitora's other Trigger options, facing Taiki in a head on battle proved to be difficult even for Kitora, as their difference in Trion levels were just too drastic.

"Alright, call off the Solo Rank War, I've seen enough. I'll make an exception for him and enlist him ahead of time. Get his Trion level examined. I think we can have him in B-rank off the bat, seeing how his Trion seems to outclass Kitora's by a longshot. And his adaptability is quite remarkable as well." Commander-in-Chief heaved a slow sigh as he got up from his seat.

* * *

"Away Squad? You mean the group that gets selected to go over to the Neighbourhood, Shinoda-san?" Taiki put his sandwich down for a moment as he regarded Commander Shinoda rather seriously.

"Exactly, that. I'm sure you've heard plenty about it, right?" Commander Shinoda also put down his cutlery as he clasped his hands together, hiding his grin from Taiki's reaction.

"Well, I can't deny that I've thought about wanting to join the Away Squad, Shinoda-san. But I'm more than aware of my own shortcomings that'll more than likely hinder the Away Squad, than my merits can be of value." Taiki gave a very serious self-analysis, as Commander Shinoda could not help but chuckle a little.

"While you might be aware of your shortcomings, it doesn't necessarily mean the value of your merits are outweighed by those shortcomings. After all, you have been able to work with a select group of agents, right? You're not entirely incapable of working with others!" Commander Shinoda put his hands down as he gave Taiki a reassuring smile.

"Well, like you said, it's a select group of agents. If I end up on the Away Squad with agents I can't work well with, I'd think my shortcomings would more than outweigh my merits, Shinoda-san." Taiki's expression betrayed his tone, as a slightly forlorn look plastered itself across his face, in spite of his monotonous voice.

"So, if you had a choice, who would you pick for the Away Squad? Presumably other agents that you could work with, obviously." Commander Shinoda could not help but add a little jab at the end.

"With all due respect, Shinoda-san, I can only work with Arashiyama-senpai and Izumi-senpai, for the most part at least. Barring them, I guess I got along well enough with Tokieda-senpai and Tachikawa-senpai. And there's Satori-senpai who kinda gets along with everyone, I guess." Taiki did a quick count of agents he had worked with before, and those he could actually get along with decently.

"Well, that's mostly agents of Tachikawa Squad and Arashiyama Squad, isn't it? Haven't you worked with agents from other squads before, Taiki?" Commander Shinoda raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, even if you say that, Shinoda-san, I haven't really been able to get along too well with many other agents. I guess Azuma-senpai and Kako-senpai were rather patient and understanding when I worked with them, but I wouldn't say I can get along with them or anything. And Yoneya-senpai was fairly friendly, but I'm not too sure about how well we worked together." Taiki picked up his sandwich off his plate and took another bite out of it.

"Well, getting along with people isn't something everyone is good at, or can do easily, so it's fine for you to take your time! I just think it's a waste that you're stuck in B-rank!" Commander Shinoda sighed and shook his head a little disappointedly.

"Well, even if you say that, it's not like my contributions to Border are affected by me being in B-rank and not A-rank, are they?" Taiki could not help but give the commander a cheeky smirk.

* * *

"Nasu-senpai!" Taiki dived in between his ash blonde haired senior clad in a white body-fit armour and the beam attack coming from a Bamster.

* * *

It was supposed to be a standard secure and clean up operation (S&C Op)3. Neighbours come in from a Gate, Border agents are dispatched to deal with the Neighbours. However, Border HQ was not prepared for the sudden appearance of as many Gates that had opened. Being the closest squad to the Gate Activity, Nasu Squad was deployed to deal with the Neighbours.

As Nasu Squad had began engaging the Neighbours, more Gates began to open, and Nasu Squad slowly found themselves a little overwhelmed. Border HQ then issued an open order for any and all available agents to assist Nasu Squad as soon as possible.

Being a solo agent, Taiki hardly got assigned S&C Ops, what with S&C Ops being fairly unpredictable. Whilst most S&C Ops are fairly straightforward, awry ones, such as the one Nasu Squad was currently caught up in, occurred from time to time. This meant that deploying a squad was always the safer course of action.

Due to this fact, despite being in the area, Taiki was not deployed with the initial order. However, upon receiving the open order, Taiki wasted no time in moving in to assist.

As Taiki arrived on the scene, Nasu Squad attacker, Kumagai Yuuko, was caught up in protecting their sniper, Hiura Akane, from the sudden onslaught of Bamsters coming through the Gates. Nasu Squad's leader and ace shooter, Nasu Rei, was holding her ground relatively well. Well enough that is, barring the beam attack a Bamster had just shot into her blind spot.

Without skipping a beat, Taiki activated his Trigger and dove in to block the beam with a Shield. The blast was successfully blocked, but the resulting impact threw Taiki into Nasu and the both of them crashed into the ground.

"Rei!" The messy and wavy black haired Kumagai shouted as she saw the explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Taiki and Nasu were encased in a Shield. Nasu, being caught off guard found herself lying on the ground, whereas Taiki who had anticipated the impact had managed to land on his feet and summoned a Shield to cover the two of them.

"Are you okay, Nasu-senpai?" Taiki offered a hand to Nasu.

"Y-Yeah. Thanks, Taiki-kun." Nasu took Taiki's hand and he pulled her back up onto her feet.

"Feel free to regroup with your squad Senpai, I'll settle the Bamsters on this side." Taiki drew a Scorpion scimitar in each hand, and conjured a few cubes of Asteroid around him as he deactivated Shield.

Leaping straight into the fray, Taiki summoned a single Grasshopper panel and leaped straight at the nearest Bamster, the one that attempted to shoot at Nasu. Crossing his Scorpion scimitars, Taiki slashed through the Bamster's core. Before the defeated Bamster could fall to the ground, Taiki's field of Asteroid shot out at the next two closest Bamsters, blasting away at their heads, easily ripping through their cores. In a mere seconds, Taiki had eliminated three Bamsters, whilst Nasu regrouped with Kumagai and Hiura.

"Taiki-senpai is quite something, isn't he?" Hiura mused out loud, not particularly talking to either of her squadmates.

"Yeah, it's honestly quite impressive what he's capable of. Especially after he took some lessons from Izumi and Rei. He's become quite a formidable All-Rounder." Kumagai fully agreed with Hiura.

"Let's not get too distracted by Taiki-kun's display, shall we? We should also dispose of some Bamsters ourselves." Nasu could not help but smile at her junior's tenacity.

Nasu Squad immediately moved into action as well, as Nasu materialized two belts of Asteroid around her. Kumagai quickly dashed toward a Bamster charging up its beam. Before the Bamster could shoot though, Hiura deftly put a shot through its core with her Egret4. Using the falling Bamster's body as a step, Kumagai proceeded to take out a second Bamster, firmly cutting through its head and core with Kogetsu. Nasu however had her sights on a Bamster about to shoot its beam at Taiki, and proceeded to decimate it with Asteroid.

"Thanks, Nasu-senpai!" Taiki made a quick bow, before he leaped off a Grasshopper panel.

Twirling his scimitars mid flight, Taiki slashed through two Bamsters' cores as he flew by, the two Bamster came crashing down.

"5 more Bamsters!" Nasu Squad's Operator, Shiki Sayoko, informed Nasu Squad over their communications.

"Akane-chan, Kuma-chan, let's get three, and leave two to Taiki-kun." Nasu issued orders to her squadmates.

"Roger!" Hiura and Kumagai nodded in sync, acknowledging Nasu's order.

"No need, Nasu-senpai. I'll take care of them on my own, you guys have already exhausted quite some Trion." Taiki dematerialized his Scorpion and conjured up some Asteroid.

"Gimlet." Taiki merged the Asteroid together to form the composite bullet, Gimlet.

Using the more powerful Gimlet, Taiki pelted the remaining Bamsters in a hail of Gimlet, the Bamsters falling one by one as the Gimlet tore through them.

"Awfully thoughtful of you Taiki-kun!" Nasu walked over to Taiki and gave him a pat on the back.

"Well, it's the least I could, seeing as you all already expended quite some Trion with the initial wave of Bamsters." Taiki blushed a little at his senpai's praise.

"Oh? Getting shy around Rei? Got a thing for your senpai, Taiki?" Kumagai gently elbowed Taiki a little.

"No! Just- erm- well, I guess what I just said and did was kinda really embarrassing." Taiki forced an awkward smile as he faced Nasu Squad.

"No it wasn't, Taiki-senpai! It was pretty cool! Nothing to be embarrassed about!" Hiura beamed cheerfully.

"Yeah, the way you fight has been steadily improving Taiki. You should be proud of yourself!" Nasu could not help but teast Taiki a little.

"If only you used Kogetsu, I'd be more than willing to give you some lessons too, Taiki." Kumagai chimed in with the teasing, putting Taiki in a headlock and ruffling his hair.

"P-Please stop teasing me, Senpai!" Taiki surrendered to Kumagai's teasing, as he chuckled nervously.

"Alright, let's head back to Base already, shall we? I believe Taiki was also on his way there?" Nasu started for Border HQ.

"Let us get you a meal sometime, okay Taiki?" Kumagai let go of Taiki and followed after Nasu, alongside Hiura.

"S-Sure." Taiki quickly followed behind Nasu Squad, as the rare group of four made their way back to Border HQ.

* * *

"Hey Kudoko-kun! Got any lunch plans?" The tall blonde leader of Kako Squad, Kako Nozomi, called out to Taiki.

"Kako-san! No, not exactly." Taiki jumped a little at Kako's sudden greeting.

"Mind if we joined you for lunch?" Kako smiled widely, as her teammate, Kuroe Futaba, emerged from behind her leader.

"No, not at all! Please feel free!" Taiki chuckled nervously as he caught Kuroe's glare.

The trio made their way to an empty table and sat down with their lunch.

"Erm, are you really okay sitting beside me, Kuroe-chan?" Taiki laughed rather nervously as his junior took a seat next to him, for some reason.

"Don't worry about it, Kudoko-kun! Futaba is just a little shy, so don't mind her behaviour! She quite looks up to you!" Kako couldn't help but chuckle at her two juniors behaving so awkwardly with each other.

"K-Kako-san! Don't say such embarrassing things, please!" Kuroe turned a bright red at her leader's careless, but not thoughtless, words.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you don't hate me, at the very least, Kuroe-chan! Let's get along from now on, shall we?" Taiki mentally heaved a sigh of relief as he gave Kuroe a small smile.

"R-Right." Kuroe turned away from Taiki to hide her embarrassment, but to not much avail, as her face was flushed entirely across.

"But, even if I say that, it seems it's going to take some time, huh?" Taiki chuckled sheepishly at his junior's seemingly cold response.

"Oh, you two! But that aside, have you been thinking about my offer, Kudoko-kun?" Kako's tone mellowed out as she regarded Taiki seriously.

"Well, I've been giving it some thought, and I'm honestly really flattered, Kako-san. But I don't think I'd fit in too well in your team's dynamics." Taiki continued chuckling sheepishly as he gave Kako his reply.

"Eh? Even after giving you all that time to think you're still turning me down?" Kako pouted with her cheeks puffed, exaggerating her annoyance with Taiki's response.

"Y-Yeah. I'm sorry Kako-san. Even if I've been slowly improving, I don't think I'm ready to join a team just yet." Taiki bowed his head a little in apology.

"And Futaba was getting excited at having a new teammate she could play with." Kako smirked at her younger teammate, eliciting a grumble and a kick from her under the table.

"Ow! Hahaha! Alright, alright! I'll stop messing around, Futaba! But if that's your answer, does that mean you might reconsider in the future?" Kako could not help but laugh at Futaba's childish but cute reaction.

"Well, if you still want me on your team when the time comes, I might reconsider." Offering another bout of sheepish chuckling, Taiki could not help but feel awkward in the current situation.

The trio then went on to have their meal in sporadic and awkward conversations.

* * *

"I hear you've been gradually improving, Taiki!" Commander Shinoda praised Taiki as he ran into him along the corridor.

"Shinoda-san! Well, yeah, I've been trying, I guess." Taiki greeted Commander Shinoda with a bow.

"I'm not referring to your combat capability, by the way." Commander Shinoda decided to tease his subordinate a little.

"Wait, what? What else would you be referring to, Shinoda-san?" Taiki's surprise was written all over his face as he raised a curious eyebrow at Commander Shinoda.

"I meant your interpersonal skills. I've heard that you've been getting along a lot better with more agents!" Commander Shinoda gave Taiki a pat on the back.

"O-Oh! Th-That. I- er- I- Well-" Taiki could not control his stuttering as Commander Shinoda brought up such an unexpected topic.

"Oh, no need to be modest! I heard you went to various agents to seek guidance and you've been working a lot better with other agents on defense duty as well!" Commander Shinoda laughed a little at Taiki's flustered reaction.

"R-Right. Er- Th-Thanks Shinoda-san." Taiki stared hard at the ground, trying to hide his embarrassment from Commander Shinoda.

"Well, I'm just happy you're finally able to get along with more people. It really makes your job a lot easier the more friends you make here. So keep up the good work, yeah?" Commander Shinoda gave Taiki a reassuring smile, before the two split up, Commander Shinoda heading to the Command Centre, while Taiki was heading to the Solo Rank Wars.

* * *

"Wonder what this mobilisation is all about?" Kumagai quickly picked up her tray and brought it over to the return point, leaving behind a bit of her meal.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find out once we get back to HQ." Taiki followed after. Hiura desperately shoved the remaining sticks of fries into her mouth as she stumbled along, almost tripping, before reaching the tray return point.

"Sheesh Akane! Careful not to choke!" Kumagai laughed heartily as she watched her teammate stumbling about.

The unusual trio departed from the fast food joint and made their way to Border HQ. Whilst Taiki was not a part of Nasu Squad, Taiki found himself forced to go along with Kumagai and Hiura to lunch, as thanks for assisting them the other time. Nasu was unable to join them, but asked that the trio properly enjoyed their meal. Unfortunately, fate had other plans, as a Border-wide mobilisation order was issued.

"Rei says she'll meet us at HQ." Kumagai announced, after receiving a text message from Nasu.

"Man, first all the Irregular Gates opening, now this! You think something big is happening?" Hiura wondered aloud, after finally swallowing her fries.

"Who knows. Whatever it is, I just hope it dies down soon! I'm having problems keeping up with school work as it is, all these Irregular Gates sure aren't helping!" Kumagai grumbled annoyedly as Hiura and Taiki chuckled a little.

"Well, if you need help senpai, I'd be more than willing to offer it." Taiki could not resist the jab, being able to study ahead of his grade, due to his Side Effect.

"Are you making fun of me, Taiki? Just because you were born with a Side Effect?" Kumagai put Taiki into yet another headlock, the trio squabbling and bantering all the way back to HQ.

* * *

It was supposed to be a regular public relations (PR) stunt for Arashiyama Squad, save for Kitora and Satori who were currently away for reasons unknown to Taiki. However, Taiki himself was also unaware of the fact that he was in the vicinity that Arashiyama Squad was conducting their PR stunt.

So when the Irregular Gates opened, Taiki was more than surprised to find himself fighting alongside the remaining two members of Arashiyama Squad, trying to protect the productions crew.

"Kudoko-kun, please take care of any stragglers attempting to flee from this area! Tokieda and I will protect the civilians!" The medium length black haired leader of Arashiyama Squad, Arashiyama Jun, quickly instructed Taiki, "And once you've dealt with any stragglers, feel free to assist us as well!"

Taiki briefly acknowledged his orders, before leaping into action. Activating his Radar, Taiki quickly pinpointed at least three Mole Mods and two Banders that were heading towards the urban areas. Quickly deploying Grasshopper panels, Taiki gave chase to the Mole Mods first, seeing as they were the faster Trion soldier between the two.

The Mole Mods had a good head start, but Taiki manage to catch up to them just as they reached the end of the Forbidden Zone.

"Hey! Uglies! This way!" Taiki yelled as he flew into the Mole Mods, all three turning to face him.

Before getting into melee range of the Mole Mods, Taiki stopped his jump short and conjured Asteroid. The Mole Mods, sensing danger, quickly lunged at Taiki, their insectoid appendages preparing to strike.

Leaping out of the first strike, Taiki just managed to conjure a Shield in time to block the second Mole Mod's strike. Before the third Mole Mod could get a hit in, Taiki shot a few Asteroid at it to throw its balance off. All three Mole Mods seemed to sense an increasing danger, as their strikes became swifter and more precise. The three working together in near perfect synchronization. However, Taiki was more than able to keep up with their strikes, as he slowly retreated back into the Forbidden Zone, leading the Mole Mods away from the urban area.

Quickly checking his Radar, Taiki quickly calculated how much time he would need to get to the Banders that headed in the opposite direction towards to urban area.

"Great, I need to end these guys fast or I won't have enough time to stop those Banders!" Taiki grumbled annoyedly as he conjured even more Asteroid.

Although Taiki had not managed to lead the Mole Mods too far back into the Forbidden Zone, he decided he did not have the luxury of worrying too much about collateral damage. The three Mole Mods were closing in fast, and as the three lunged at Taiki simultaneously, Taiki bounced up into the sky with Grasshopper.

"Let's hope I don't cause too much collateral damage. Gimlet!" Taiki unloaded onto the Mole Mods.

The Mole Mods desperately tried to shield themselves but to no avail. As the hail of Gimlet tore through their limbs and body, their remains crumpled to the ground.

"Alright. It's a race against time, I guess." Taiki sighed deeply, as he leaped off after the Banders.

Paying close attention to his Radar, Taiki monitored the Banders' movement. He was about three minutes away from the Banders, but the Banders would be leaving the Forbidden in less than two minutes, at the speed they were moving.

"Great, since it's come to this, I might as well put what I've learned to use." Taiki landed on the roof of what used to be someone's house and properly pulled out his Radar.

Inputting more Trion into his Radar, Taiki increased the accuracy, allowing his Radar to even display the terrain in addition to the positions of the Banders.

"Alright, I'm gonna be in so much trouble if I cause collateral damage doing this, but better for me to cause somewhat controlled collateral damage than to have those Banders possibly hurting civilians, I guess." Taiki conjured Meteora and Viper and started to concentrate.

Whilst creating composite bullets might not have been a difficult thing for Taiki to do, having to adjust Viper's trajectory on the fly required a little time to configure.

"Alright, it's time to let 'er rip. Tomahawk!" Taiki unleashed the Meteora-Viper composite into the sky, making sure to keep a close eye on his Radar.

Whilst the trajectory for Tomahawk would have been fairly straightforward going from Taiki, to the sky and going in the general direction of the Banders, landing the Tomahawk on the Banders would prove to be difficult, seeing as they were moving.

"C'mon, there ya go!" Taiki watched on the Radar as his barrage of Tomahawk were close enough above the Banders and brought the Tomahawk down, completely obliterating the Banders and the surrounding buildings.

Judging from the Radar, all the collateral damage was contained within the Forbidden Zone. Taiki heaved a sigh of relief before heading back to assist Arashiyama and Tokieda.

* * *

"You dealt with the stragglers?" Arashiyama smiled at Taiki as he came leaping back.

"Yeah, got 'em all, Arashiyama-senpai." Taiki landed rather gracefully as he quickly surveyed the scene.

In the time it took Taiki to chase down two groups of straggling Neighbours, Arashiyama and Tokieda took down all the other Neighbours that came through the Irregular Gates. From the aftermath, Taiki counted at least four Bamsters, six Mole Mods and two Banders. And those were just the recognisable remains.

* * *

Upon returning to HQ, Kumagai, Hiura and Taiki first rendezvoused with Nasu before heading to the briefing together. Turns out, the cause of the Irregular Gates had been found, and every combatant in Border was being mobilised to hunt down the Trion soldiers responsible.

Rad, little scorpion-looking like Trion soldiers, were released sometime ago when a Bamster was defeated in the Forbidden Zone. These Rads then hid themselves beneath the ground until the coast was clear, before spreading themselves all around Mikado City. Due to this, there was such a high volume of Irregular Gates happening in the last few days.

Now, the order had been issued to hunt down and exterminate every last Rad. Even C-Rank trainees were being activated, seeing as the estimated number of Rads was in the thousands.

And so, Taiki, alongside Nasu Squad, went on their way to do their part in Operation Rad Extermination.

* * *

Author's Note (A/N): Hey guys! To those who have been following me since my beginning writing Fanficiton of Cardfight Vanguard, apologies for dropping that Fanfiction. I didn't plan for it properly, and due to the lack of planning, I wasn't able to continue where I left off from it. My sincerest apologies. It is very unlikely I will be continuing that Fanfic. To those following my other Fanfics, I would also like to apologise for not updating those. Currently, if there was one Fanfic I'll likely update aside from this new World Trigger one, it would most definitely be my Love Live Fanfic. I still haven't completely given up on that, and seeing as its not an original Fanfic, plotwise, I'll more than likely be able to continue it once I get the motivation to write about Love Live once again. But anyways, moving on to the most important topic, thank you guys so much for reading this Fanfic! I've been a huge fan of World Trigger, ever since before its two-year hiatus, so when I got word that World Trigger was returning, I couldn't help but feel oddly motivated to throw myself back into the universe of World Trigger. Hence why this Fanfic was born. I wasn't planning to go very far with this Fanfic, but as I kept writing, I had to conduct more research about the parts of the World Trigger universe I was unfamiliar with. This cycle of writing and researching, researching and writing, birthed this monstrosity of a first chapter in what is hopefully going to be a semi-long running Fanfic. Of course, I'm well aware that I've got a few Fanfics under my belt, most of which are discontinued due to various reasons, but I'm hoping this will not be the case for this World Trigger Fanfic, because I want to just play around in the World Trigger universe as much as I can, and I hope you guys will also have fun going through the World Trigger universe through my Fanfic. Anyways, that's it for this incredibly long note. Hopefully you guys enjoyed and below are just a few clarifications I thought I'd throw in. With that, see you guys in my next update! (Whenever that'll be… Ehehehe…)

1 Here, the Japanese word used is supposed to 'member' instead of 'agent', but for the sake of sounding a little more natural in English, I opted to follow a more sensible choice of word that's still relevant in context.

2 In Japan, there are different ways to address people, depending on their seniority, and how close/friendly a relationship is. In this case, Taiki is speaking very formally to Shinoda, in addressing his superior by rank. Shinoda tells Taiki to be less formal by removing the rank and instead address him as 'Shinoda-san'. So in return, Taiki reciprocates the sentiment by asking his superior to address him by his first/given name as well. This is due to the fact that most colleagues, in a workplace environment, usually address each other by their last names, even when superiors address their subordinates.

3 Okay, so this is just something I came up with to make the storytelling a little easier for me. It's not necessarily canon, so yeah.

4 So there are two different translations for the balanced sniper Trigger, Eaglet or Egret. I'm opting to ue Egret as it sounds a little more natural than Eaglet. Egret rolls off the tongue better in my opinion so I'll be sticking with using Egret for the rest of this.


	2. The Lone Wolf

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but my OC and reimagined plot points. All rights go to their respective owners. Please support Ashihara Daisuke by purchasing official World Trigger serializations from trusted sources.

* * *

"I can't remember the last time we had such a large scale operation!" Kumagai yawned, arms outstretched as she leaned back into the couch.

"Well, it was interesting, to say the least. In my time here in Border, I didn't realise we had that many agents, even if most of them are trainees." Taiki chuckled a little, leaning a little into the couch as well, nervously watching the distance between himself and Kumagai.

Operation Rad Extermination had been concluded two days prior, and Kumagai invited Taiki over to hang out and gossip. The two found themselves retreating to the Nasu Squad break room, when Kumagai decided she wanted a more private setting for their gossip. Taiki was beyond hesitant, but any resistance he put up was deftly ignored by Kumagai as she practically dragged him along with her.

Taiki's anxiousness was only made worse when Kumagai insisted they shared the common couch in the break room. Nasu's recliner was off-limits to everyone else, and that left Taiki with basically no choice but to share the couch with Kumagai.

"Hey, what're you sitting so far away for? Scoot over! Or I'll scoot over to you!" Kumagai pouted annoyedly at Taiki as she noticed he had edged away from her.

"Eh-" Taiki did not have any time to respond before Kumagai casually tossed herself onto Taiki's lap, grinning cheekily at Taiki.

Taiki froze as he stared down at Kumagai lying on his lap, before quickly turning away in embarrassment. Kumagai could not hold back her laughter at Taiki's ears turning bright red as she sat herself back up, and closed the distance between them regardless.

"Oh, you always have the best reactions! I love it!" Kumagai chuckled, throwing her legs across the couch and leaning on Taiki's shoulder, "It's great that you're the perfect height for this too!"

"Y-Yeah, sure. I really could do with less teasing though, Yuuko-senpai." Taiki exasperated exhaustedly as he slumped a little further into the couch.

"Oh don't sweat the small things! Besides, it's only because we've gotten so close that I'm having so much fun teasing you!" Kumagai leaned into Taiki a little as well, chuckling as she reminisced, "Honestly, you were so cold and distant when we first met."

* * *

"Ah, is this your new student, Rei?" Kumagai grinned at Taiki, extending her hand, "Nice to meetcha! I'm Kumagai Yuuko!"

"N-Nice to meet you, Kumagai-san. I'm Kudoko Taiki." Taiki awkwardly grabbed onto the outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake.

"So you're a Shooter? I mean you have to be, if you're asking Rei for advice, right?" Kumagai gave Nasu a friendly nudge, eliciting a chuckle from her.

"He's on his way to becoming a 'Perfect' All-Rounder, Kuma-chan! He's pretty apt with the Attacker and Shooter Triggers, and he knows his way around the Sniper Triggers too!" Rei could not help but boast a little about her student.

Kumagai paused for a moment as she tried to process her Squad Captain's words. Whilst All-Rounders were not unheard of in Border, 'Perfect' All-Rounders were. An All-Rounder was only expected to be capable of handling Attacker and Shooter or Gunner Triggers. Most Snipers were almost exclusively Snipers. After all, it was not particularly viable to mix the attacking styles of a Sniper with any other Trigger style.

"Y-You're aiming to become a 'Perfect' All-Rounder, Kudoko-kun?" Kumagai was more than taken aback at the revelation.

"Erm, I guess so." Taiki nodded a little, his gaze darting around but not toward Kumagai.

"H-Hold on. Wouldn't it be enough to just be an All-Rounder? Do you really need to know how to use Sniper Triggers as well?" Kumagai could not get a read on Taiki.

Whilst he seemed awkward, perhaps a little distant, he definitely did not seem arrogant nor flamboyant. Yet the fact that he was on his way to becoming a 'Perfect' All-Rounder was still quite the development. After all, most Border combatants trained and practiced with one type of Trigger. It was the most practical way to go about things for most. Specialise in one type of Trigger set, and improve with their chosen Trigger set.

Of course, All-Rounders were a different story. After all, these were Border combatants that could utilise two of the three types of Trigger sets. More of these All-Rounders could be found in A-Ranks, but B-Rank had its fair share as well. However, the only 'Perfect' All-Rounder in Border belonged to the Tamakoma Branch, and was part of an elite squad of agents - Tamakoma First, also known as Kizaki Squad.

Aside from Kizaki Reiji, the squad's leader and Border's only 'Perfect' All-Rounder, no other Border combatant came close to being a 'Perfect' All-Rounder. And yet here Taiki was, only a B-Rank and supposedly well on his way to becoming Border's next 'Perfect' All-Rounder.

"Well, I thought it would be a good idea to be more versatile." Taiki muttered softly as he turned his gaze to his feet.

"Pretty amazing right, Kuma-chan? It's always good to have powerful allies!" Nasu gave Taiki a pat on his shoulder, "Well, we're about done for the day, shall we go get lunch together?"

"Sure! I haven't eaten yet, so I could use some food right about now! C'mon Kudoko-kun!" Kumagai flanked Nasu as the duo headed for the cafeteria, leaving Taiki to awkwardly trail behind them.

While lunch was filled with conversation, Taiki's participation was sporadic and few. As much as Kumagai tried to make small talk with Taiki, he did not seem too comfortable with speaking to Kumagai, or in general. After a good amount of hemming and hawing, Kumagai decided it would be better to leave the poor boy alone if he felt that nervous and uncomfortable participating in conversation.

* * *

"Man, I didn't think we'd ever become friends back then, ya know? You were always so distant and reserved about everything! I'm glad you warmed up to us though." Kumagai giggled softly as she reminisced about the not-so-distant past.

"Well- I guess this really isn't all that bad." Taiki seemed to change his mind about what he was going to say, sighing, "But I really could live without most of your teasing, Yuuko-senpai."

"Man, and it took you so long to start calling me by my given name too! Even though you asked us to address you by yours!" Kumagai ignored Taiki's complaints, as she embarked on another trip down memory lane, "You only started addressing me by my given name that time you were talking about your Trigger Loadout, remember?"

* * *

"Ah, I can't spar properly against a loadout like that!" Kumagai grumbled as she regrouped with her squad mates.

"Well, Taiki-kun did say he'd be willing to fight us as a squad but you insisted on taking him on one-on-one, Kuma-chan! I warned you, he's in a league of his own!" Nasu could not help but laugh at Kumagai's demise and frustration.

"And you! What's up with that 'one-man-army' kind of loadout, Taiki?" Kumagai turned her attention to the root of her current woes.

"Eh?" Taiki blinked in surprise as the hostility suddenly turned toward him, "What do you mean, Kumagai-senpai?"

"There you go again! Haven't I told you to call me 'Yuuko-senpai'? Especially after you told us to call you 'Taiki'!" Kumagai puffed up her cheeks in annoyance as she glared dangerously at Taiki, "You know what I mean! You don't have Bagworm in your loadout, and you've filled basically all your Trigger slots with offensive Triggers!"

Taiki could only blink in surprise at the outburst as Nasu chuckled a little. Akane smiled a little as she watched her seniors exchange banter.

"Well, it's only to be expected, isn't it, B-Rank's Lone Wolf?" Nasu smile gently, "Not having a squad to rely on means Taiki-kun has to pull all the stops to survive on his own. And seeing as Taiki is more than capable of facing opponents head on, he doesn't really need the less direct Triggers like Bagworm!"

"Yeah, it really is a style quite unique to Taiki-senpai, isn't it!" Akane giggled, "It's only natural that Kuma-senpai would lose to Taiki-senpai!"

"Only natural, eh?" Kumagai smirked as she wrestled poor Akane into a chokehold, burrowing her free fist into her hair.

Nasu laughed as Akane whined and groaned in protest, while Taiki chuckled nervously as Kumagai glared at him.

"You don't want me to do this to you, do you Taiki? If you don't, explain yourself! And call me by my given name already!" Kumagai finally released Akane, whom collapsed to the ground gasping for air and wheezing a little.

"Al-Alright, Yuuko-senpai!" Taiki half acknowledged, half shouted, not wanting Akane's fate to befall him for various reasons.

And so, over lunch, Taiki talked about his Trigger loadout.

The decision to pick Scorpion over Kogetsu was simple. Not only was Scorpion lighter than Kogetsu and easier to wield, it was far more versatile and flexible. And given Taiki's natural Trion ability, he would not be put at too much of a disadvantage going against a Kogetsu user. He could easily reinforce the durability of Scorpion when necessary.

Shooter Triggers over Gunner Triggers was another simple decision. Not needing to wield physical Trion guns was by far the more flexible option between the two. Of course, Taiki had to train more in order to use the Shooter Triggers efficiently, but given Taiki's Side Effect, picking up the Shooter Triggers proved to be not much of a challenge.

Shield was a necessity for all Border combatants, so no questions really asked as to why it was on the loadout. Grasshopper was pretty self-explanatory as well, given Taiki's combat prowess. It was only natural that he would want to further bolster his fighting capabilities however he could. Grasshopper provided much mobility, allowing for greater vertical and horizontal movements.

All these factors coupled with the fact that Taiki's Trion levels were quite high, meant that Taiki was quite a formidable threat, even as a solo combatant. Hence, when pit against an average B-Rank in a Solo Rank War, like Kumagai, Taiki would have no issues wiping the floor with them.

Nasu had speculated that Taiki could fight at the level of an A-Rank, given his versatility. Taiki was quick to deny the notion, however, insisting that he had yet to actually fight any A-Ranks and it would not be right to speculate. Barring his initiation where he bested Kitora, Taiki had yet to fight any A-Rank combatant at full power. Beating Kitora could have easily been a fluke, considering Taiki had superior Trion in comparison to Kitora and the fact that Kitora was handicapped.

While Nasu decided to stop teasing Taiki about his abilities, Akane piped up and wondered who Taiki had learned to fight from.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Kudoko Taiki. Nice to meet you, Yuuichi-san." Taiki bowed, a sign of respect to his senior, but also to hide some of his nervousness.

It was not everyday that Taiki would meet one of Border's top agents, the self-proclaimed Power Elite, Yuuichi Jin. Wielder of the Black Trigger, Fujin, and former No. 2 Overall, Jin was rather well known in the ranks of Border.

Under normal circumstances, Taiki would probably never meet Jin privately, let alone receive training from him. However, due to Commander Shinoda's recommendation and introduction, Taiki was about to undergo some training from Jin.

"Nice to meet you too, Lone Wolf-kun!" Jin smiled widely, sizing up his soon-to-be apprentice, "So Shinoda-san told me you were interested in learning to use Scorpion, is that right?"

"Y-Yeah. I heard that Scorpion was the most versatile of the Attacker Triggers." Taiki grinned sheepishly, chuckling a little nervously.

"Well you heard right! Unlike Kogetsu and Raygust, Scorpion doesn't take a fixed shape or form! You can use it in almost any shape or form you need! Although most people practice with one or two fixed forms of Scorpion anyways!" Jin laughed a little at his last statement.

Taiki nodded as Jin led the way to a training booth. Without wasting time on theatrics or further pleasantries, Jin commenced his lesson on Scorpion.

"Well, I'd say try to keep up, but I don't think you'll have too much of a problem! Plus I think you won't need more than two sessions with me!" Jin smiled confidently.

Taiki could not believe how sure Jin sounded, but sure enough, Taiki had gotten the basics of fighting with Scorpion within the hour. By the end of the third hour, Taiki had picked up several of the more advanced Scorpion techniques. By the fourth hour, Taiki came rather close to beating Jin in one duel, out of the fifty they had.

"What do you know! You came really close to beating me that last round! Your movements are really sharp but you lack experience. But I'm sure you'll get much better with time!" Jin gave Taiki a pat on the back, "How about we continue the rest of this tomorrow? I've got a little something to introduce to you I think you might like."

"S-Sure! Thank you so much for your lesson today, Yuuichi-san." Taiki bowed, his breath ragged from the intense training session.

"You can drop the honorifics, Taiki! And just 'Jin' will do! I'm going to be relying on your strength once you get a lot stronger, so keep up the training, yeah?" Jin smiled, "Want to grab a bite before we call it a day?"

Taiki barely had the time to nod as Jin took off for the cafeteria, leaving Taiki with not much of a choice but to follow after. On the way to the cafeteria, the duo ran into Izumi, and Jin casually invited him along as well. By the end of lunch, Taiki had an appointment with Izumi to learn Shooter Triggers from.

* * *

"Wow, Jin was right. You really do have an aptitude for this." Izumi could not hold back his amazement as Taiki mastered the basics of the different Shooter Triggers within an hour.

Taiki showed no issues with using Asteroid and Meteor, and even managed to somewhat manipulate the trajectory of Viper. Whilst his control over Viper was still very much lacking, being able to even manipulate its trajectory without prior training was something very uncommon, if not unheard of. And yet Taiki seemed to grasp the theory behind it just fine.

Curiousity of Taiki's capabilities led to Izumi teaching Taiki about Composite Bullets. In less than a week, Taiki was able to create Gimlet. Izumi could never have imagined that Taiki would be able to pick up composite bullets, let alone successfully create any as quickly as he did. And so his curiousity got the better of him and he taught Taiki the rest of the composite bullets.

This time around, Taiki hit a few more snags learning each new Composite Bullet. Although Taiki did not manage to learn and recreate the other Composite Bullets as quickly as he did Gimlet, he had managed to pick up every last Composite Bullet within half a year. And that was a feat Izumi was impressed with beyond words.

In the half a year that Taiki had apprenticed under Izumi, the two had grown rather close. Taiki would anticipate his lessons with Izumi, and Izumi would anticipate the boundaries Taiki would breakthrough. Taiki's name made its way round the upper echelons Border as being one of the few combatants who could use Composite Bullets. Yet despite this half a year of training with Izumi, Taiki just could not seem to get a grasp of manipulating Viper's trajectory on-the-fly.

Hitting a roadblock in training, Izumi decided it might be better to take a different approach and sent Taiki to Nasu. Being the other combatant who had mastered Viper, Nasu was Taiki's next and only hope to learning Viper, seeing as Izumi simply could not impart his knowledge to Taiki for whatever reason.

* * *

"Grasshopper?" Taiki was beyond confused when Jin randomly brought up the Optional Trigger on their second day of 'bootcamp'.

"Yeah! Grasshopper! It's a neat little optional Trigger that gives you a lot of mobility and verticality as an Attacker!" Jin had temporarily equipped Grasshopper to demonstrate the Trigger to Taiki, "Even if you were to become an All-Rounder, sometimes being able to close the distance between you and your opponents will be useful even if you have the range of your Shooter Triggers."

Having given his brief introduction, Jin deployed a Grasshopper panel. Without missing a beat, Jin had seemingly flown across the room. Taiki was genuinely impressed at what the little blue panel was capable of, watching Jin leap across the room from Grasshopper.

"Why don't you equip it and give it a try?" Jin smiled as he watched Taiki's eyes twinkle in excitement.

"Uh oh!" Taiki flew straight into the wall, unable to control his motion.

Jin could not help but stifle a chuckle as he helped Taiki up. Before Jin could explain how Grasshopper worked, Taiki had already bounced off another panel, launching himself into the opposite wall. Seeing Taiki pick himself back up with a determination in his eyes, Jin decided to watch silently until Taiki decided he wanted some help.

In slightly over two hours of throwing himself into the floor and walls, Taiki had begun to grasp the workings of Grasshopper. It was possible to deploy multiple panels at once, and the more panels deployed at a given time, the weaker the propulsion of the Grasshopper. With that being said, Grasshopper panels were also only good for one jump before needing to be redeployed for a second jump. By the end of the day, Taiki had gotten the hang of moving around with Grasshopper in an empty space.

"I gotta say, I'm really impressed, Taiki! You've already gotten used to Grasshopper in such a short time!" Jin handed Taiki a bottle of sports water he had gone and bought, "Drink up!"

Quietly muttering a word of thanks, Taiki took the bottle and drank.

"Well, I don't really think there's anything else for me to teach you, so I hope you keep fighting and getting more experience with time! I'm really looking forward to seeing how strong you get!" Jin laughed at how quickly Taiki finished the bottle, "Let's go get some food!"

And with that, Taiki had officially graduated from Jin's two-day crash course on Scorpion and Grasshopper.

* * *

"Thinking back about it, it's not a surprise I didn't stand a chance against you, huh?" A half chuckle, half sigh came from Kumagai, as she returned from her trip down memory lane.

Unsure of how to respond, Taiki shrugged a little, forgetting that Kumagai was resting on his shoulder. The little shrug was sudden enough that Kumagai slipped off his shoulder, her head falling back onto his lap again.

"Aw, so you do want me on your lap!" Kumagai snickered as Taiki averted his eyes from her, "You could have just said so! Your lap is just as comfortable to rest on as your shoulder! If anything, your lap is a little more comfortable!"

"No! It's not like that! I just-" Taiki raised a flustered and incoherent objection, but Kumagai did not let him finish as she sat herself back up, chuckling at Taiki.

"I really do love your reactions! They're the best!" Kumagai purred endearingly as she put herself back on his shoulder, "Seriously, it'd be so much fun if you joined our Squad! And it helps that we have pretty good chemistry!"

"Well, you know that's not possible, Yuuko-senpai. At this point, I'd be starting some internal political war if I joined any Squad. I've been scouted by various Squads now and I've turned them all down." Kumagai would not be able to see from her position, but Taiki's lips curled into a weak smile as he spoke, "I'm kinda expected to fly solo. Even Shinoda-san has requested that I remain a solo agent so I can be deployed more freely."

"Yeah, I know! But I'm just saying, it'd be pretty fun to have you in our Squad." Kumagai raised her hands above her head and began ruffling Taiki's hair.

"Gah! Wh-What's that for!" Taiki's unfortunate position did not allow to retaliate in any way, as he succumbed to Kumagai's hair ruffling.

Unbeknownst to the two, three curious pairs of eyes were watching the little show. It seemed word had gotten around that the Lone Wolf was sighted with Nasu Sqaud's Attacker, and curious rumours about the Lone Wolf were spreading. The rumour that brought the rest of Nasu Squad to spy on their friends, was one that claimed Taiki and Kumagai were dating. It was not an outrageous rumour, given how close the two seemed to be. And three curious girls were snooping around to find some answers.

"Honestly, I think everyone in the squad would really love to have you, y'know?" Kumagai sat up, "And it would be so much easier to hang out without all those weird rumours going around."

"Weird rumours? You mean the ones that claim I'm dating you?" Taiki expected a witty quip as he finally had the space to turn over and look at Kumagai.

Except Kumagai had no witty quip. Instead, she seemed a little bashful about the rumour. Turning her entire body away, she was even twirling her hair a little awkwardly. The three curious eyes grew wide at Kumagai's reaction, the silence seemed to carry one thought. Was Kumagai really feeling embarrassed about those rumours?

When the rumours first surfaced, Taiki had been flustered but Kumagai laughed heartily. Taiki was nothing more than a junior and a friend, Kumagai had insisted. Almost every other time that the rumours caught up to her, she had brushed them off without much thought. Except right now.

Taiki was beyond words as he stared at this uncharacteristic bashfulness from Kumagai.

"Y-Yuuko-senpai? Are you okay?" Taiki nervously reached out to tap her shoulder.

Surprise, shock, relief. All these emotions erupted through the room as Taiki's hand landed on Kumagai's shoulder. And with that, the facade broke. Grabbing the intruding arm on her shoulder, Kumagai yanked Taiki into a headlock before guffawing out loud.

"Did you really think I'd be affected by them now? You're going to need to start acting a little more assertively if you want me to see you as a prospective romantic partner Taiki!" With her back to her squadmates and Taiki under her arm, neither Taiki nor the rest of Nasu Squad could have seen the slight blush on her cheeks.

"Gah! Alright, alright! How's this for assertive?" Taiki growled and grabbed the arm around his neck.

Giving it a pull, Taiki easily wrenched himself free of the headlock. All of a sudden, Taiki found himself without anything stopping him from falling. And so, he face planted into Kumagai's thighs. Kumagai took a second to process the weight on her lap. As soon as she realised what had happened, she jumped out of her seat, half in shock, half in embarrassment.

"Ouch!" Taiki's voice could be heard after a loud thud.

"Taiki!" "Taiki-kun!" Both Kumagai and Nasu called out, as Nasu finally gave away her, Akane and Sayoko's position.

"Rei? Akane and Sayoko too? How long have you guys been there?" Kumagai whirled around at hearing her Squad Captain's voice.

"Erm, we just got here! Isn't that right, Akane-chan, Sayoko-chan?" Nasu smiled innocently, gently nudging Sayoko.

Before Sayoko could respond, a soft grumble brought everyone's attention back to Taiki. Slowly picking himself off the ground, Taiki saw the rest Nasu Squad and offered a weak smile.

"Forget about us, Kuma-chan! Are you okay, Taiki-kun?" Nasu quickly diverted the conversation back to Taiki, before Kumagai could get any more questions in.

"Yeah, I'm just a little in shock, is all." A single chuckle escaped his lips as Taiki dusted himself off, "It's a good thing I fell straight to the ground. I'd probably have gotten a bruise and scrape or two if I bumped into the coffee table."

"Sheesh, you really startled us y'know? We heard a thud as soon as we came in!" Nasu gave a wide smile, nudging both Akane and Sayoko to play along, "We came rushing over, right Akane-chan, Sayoko-chan?"

"Y-Yeah." "E-Exactly!" Sayoko and Akane both caught on quickly enough and began nodding furiously.

Kumagai looked her squadmates in mild confusion while Taiki laughed heartily at the theatrics before him. Nasu watched Taiki cautiously as she chuckled a little as well.

"Either ways, I'm sorry for startling you all. My bad." Taiki gave Nasu Squad a little bow as he continued to chuckle.

"Yeah seriously! You gave me a scare just pulling my arm like that!" Kumagai gave Taiki's shoulder a love tap, "And that kinda hurt too, y'know!"

"H-Hey! It's your own fault for saying something weird!" Taiki barely had time to react as Kumagai put him into another headlock, "Guess I kinda deserve this one this time."

And that was all she wrote, before Kumagai drove her fist into Taiki's hair. The little bit of extra force was more than enough to make Taiki yelp a little as Kumagai tormented him. Nasu, Akane and Sayoko exchanged glances at each other before giggling.

* * *

"Hey Taiki!" The cheery, carefree voice of Border's self-proclaimed Power Elite came from down the hall.

Turning to the voice, Taiki spotted Jin walking alongside Azuma Haruaki, the first Sniper in Border and former captain of A-Rank No. 1 Squad. Catching Azuma's sightline, Taiki bowed as the two walked over.

"Nice to meet you, Kudoko-kun." Azuma extended his hand, a grin one his lips, "I've heard a lot about you, B-Rank's Lone Wolf."

"Nice to meet you too, Azuma-san." Taiki grabbed the outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake, "I'm flattered you've heard about me."

"Quite modest, aren't you. Well, there is virtue in modesty." Azuma chuckled cheerily, sizing up Taiki.

Before the conversation could carry on, Jin quickly explained that he was bringing Azuma to Taiki. Jin wanted to see what Taiki would be capable of with Sniper Trigger, and gave the excuse that as a solo agent Taiki should be plenty versatile in his capabilities. Azuma raised a curious eyebrow at Jin's somewhat shady explanation but chose not to say anything when Taiki readily accepted it. With Jin's questionable motivations for introducing Taiki to him, Azuma agreed to train Taiki regardless.

And much like Izumi, Azuma was quite impressed with Taiki's aptitude at picking up the basics rather quickly. Within a week, Taiki had mastered the basic handling of the Sniper Triggers as well as the situational usages of each Sniper Trigger. By the end of the second week, Taiki was able to consistently hit stationary targets. With Lightning, Taiki was able to consistently hit moving after a week. With Egret, he was able to consistently hit moving targets within two weeks. However, Ibis seemed to stump Taiki for a while, but after a month or so, Taiki could hit moving targets consistently with Ibis as well.

Throughout training with Izumi, Azuma and eventually Nasu as well, Taiki's moniker of 'B-Rank's Lone Wolf' held new meaning. Once known as 'Lone Wolf' for being cold and distant, not working well with others, the moniker carried new connotations. No longer the cold and distant person he once was, Taiki carried the moniker of 'Lone Wolf' with some pride as a recognition to his abilities as a solo B-Rank combatant.

Of course, this new recognition did not go unnoticed. Many Squads tried to recruit Taiki, of which he turned down every single one. When the buzz was all about the Lone Wolf, Commander Shinoda had jokingly told Taiki to continue being a solo agent. After all, he would not be much of a 'Lone Wolf' if he joined a Squad. Taiki had taken the joke a little too seriously and rejected every invitation he got. Even when certain A-Rank Squads tried to recruit him, he had turned them all down. Rejecting even A-Rank Squads, it seemed that Taiki had properly cemented his moniker of 'B-Rank's Lone Wolf' in the ranks of Border.

* * *

A swarm of Trion cubes hovered menacingly around Taiki as Nasu Squad took up their positions with Bagworm. Nasu herself was going to face Taiki head on, Kumagai acting as her guard. Akane was supposed to find an opening to do damage to Taiki however she could. That was the battle plan they had agreed upon. But as Murphy's Law dictates, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Before Nasu Squad could get into their positions, Taiki had already obliterated most Sniper sightlines. Their virtual battlefield was in ruins, as most of the taller buildings were blown to bits. The streets they were fighting on were in disrepair as well, plenty of rubble scattered everywhere. Despite being a friendly spar, Taiki was not holding anything back.

"You really aren't holding back, are you!" Kumagai hollered from the protruding rubble she was taking cover behind.

"You did ask me to go all out, Yuuko-senpai!" Taiki shouted back, standing atop a pile of what used to be a shophouse moments ago.

Sayoko could only describe what she saw moments ago as terrifying. The sheer fire power Taiki unleashed upon entering the virtual battlefield was absurd. Granted, the battlefield was only a medium sized cityscape.

Moments after the four were transported into the battlefield, Taiki had released Meteora into the skies. Keeping to its namesake, the explosive Trion cubes pelted the battlefield, obliterating the taller buildings, leaving the rest of the landscape in disrepair. Taiki's plan was to disrupt Akane from the get-go by removing any height advantage she could utilise.

"So what now, Rei-senpai? Do I still find a spot to snipe from?" Akane sighed over their comms.

"Stay put for the time being, Akane-chan. Taiki-kun can easily shoot you down if you made a move now." Nasu spoke calmly, her voice betraying no worry, "Let me and Kuma-chan distract him. When you see an opening, find yourself a position to support us from."

"Roger that!" Akane's cheery voice came back as Nasu looked over to Kumagai.

"Ready, Kuma-chan?" Nasu peeked out from behind the fallen shopsign.

"Whenever you are, Rei." Kumagai nodded at her Captain, Koegetsu drawn.

"You guys better move fast, you've already given Taiki plenty of time to work out an attack plan." Sayoko nagged over the comms.

As if on cue, a few of the Trion cubes detached from the formation and flew right between where Nasu and Kumagai were hiding. The explosive force of the Meteora threw the unsuspecting duo out of cover and Taiki leapt straight into action.

Deploying a trail of Grasshopper panels, Taiki began closing the distance between him and Nasu quickly.

"No hard feelings, Rei-senpai." Taiki grinned as he flew toward Nasu.

Still recovering from the blast, Nasu barely had time to react. As imminent elimination approached, Nasu was saved by her guard. Having slightly better agility, Kumagai managed to recover just in time, bringing her Kogetsu between Nasu and the oncoming Scorpion.

"Not fast enough, Taiki!" Kumagai held Taiki in a bladelock as they stared each other down.

"Tch, I guess I'm about to pay for underestimating you guys, aren't I?" Taiki grumbled, quickly dislodging himself from the bladelock.

"Oh? And whatever could you mean?" The smile on Nasu's face looked quite intimidating against her backdrop of Trion cubes, ready to fire.

A sigh was everything Taiki had time for before the hail of Trion bullets whizzed at him. A Grasshopper panel quickly put some distance between him and the onslaught of bullets, buying him just enough time to defend. Retaliating with Meteora, the explosions soaked up some of the Nasu's shots, and whatever got through were largely kept at bay with the Shield.

But at such a distance, Meteora was bound to deal both recoil and splash damage to both parties. Having a Shield up already, Taiki took a significantly less damage as compared to Nasu and Kumagai. All three found themselves knocked to the ground, however.

"Really? You'd try something so risky?" Nasu's coughing could be heard through the dust as she picked herself off the ground.

"Nothing risked, nothing gained. That's how the saying goes, right?" Taiki chuckled as Kumagai grunted.

"Sheesh, as chaotic as always, aren't ya Taiki." Kumagai laughed in bouts of coughing, "And it's 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'!"

"Well, that's about the only way I can hope to win against a coordinated team, isn't it? Create disorder and strike at weak points." A heavy sigh escaped Taiki's lips as he shook his head.

"Taiki-kun does have a point. It's difficult to face a coordinated unit head on with just brute force." Nasu nodded thoughtfully.

Whilst Taiki had exchanged blows with Kumagai and Nasu, Akane had relocated. Amidst the banter, Akane found an opportunity, leaving Taiki with just his left arm. Nasu and Kumagai could not hold back a smile as the arm fell to the ground before disintegrating. Taiki frowned a little and glanced in the direction of the shot. Summoning two Asteroid cubes, Taiki merged them into Gimlet before returning fire. In the distance, Akane Bailed Out.

* * *

"Is he for real? How did he get me from that far?" Akane grumbled as she walked over to Sayoko's desk.

"Well, you didn't exactly shoot him from too far. That, and you didn't move immediately after taking the shot. Given Taiki's skill, it's only normal he'd be able to shoot back at you and take you out." Sayoko shook her head, "The two of you are the same age and look at the difference in skill between you."

"Gah! Don't remind me, alright?" As Akane pouted at Sayoko, Nasu and Kumagai could not hold back a chuckle as they overheard the exchange over comms.

* * *

"A-Akane-chan?" Taiki could not hide his embarrassment as he practiced calling Akane by her first name.

"That's not that bad, right Taiki-senpai?" Akane laughed as Sayoko walked in.

"Erm, I've been meaning to ask for a while, but why do you keep calling Taiki 'senpai', Akane?" Sayoko tilted her head questioningly.

"Eh? It's cos he is?" Akane stared at Sayoko as if she said something weird.

"Aren't the both of you the same age?" Sayoko raised her eyebrows in doubt, the edges of her lip slowly curling into a smile.

"Eh? Aren't you the same age at Sayoko-senpai, Taiki-senpai?" Akane turned to Taiki.

"Uh. I'm a year younger than Sayoko-san, Akane." Taiki finally understood why Akane kept calling him 'senpai'.

"Eh? EH?!" Akane gasped in shock, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Sayoko burst into laughter as Taiki sighed a little. Taiki had assumed Akane was younger than him, considering how she kept calling him a 'senpai'. But he never would have guessed that she was just mistaken. They hardly ever talked about their age or anything related.

"B-But you address Sayoko-senpai as 'Sayoko-san'!" Distraught, confusion and denial erupted from every pore of her tiny frame as she looked at Taiki and Sayoko.

"Yeah, I asked him to address me that way to trick you." Sayoko pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, "But it just doesn't sound right for Taiki to address you as 'Akane-chan' when the both of you are the same age."

"Now everything makes so much more sense." Taiki facepalmed as Sayoko continued laughing her butt off, "I'm sorry Akane, I didn't mean to deceive you. I thought you had some other reason for calling me 'senpai'."

"All this time. Your height, the way you spoke. I thought- Oh I feel like such an idiot!" Akane half cried, half groaned in embarrassment and frustration, "How could you play such a prank on me, Sayoko-senpai!"

"I'm sorry Akane, but I thought you would have figured it out. I couldn't get along this well with Taiki if we were the same age." Sayoko finally calmed down and sighed, "I was definitely wary when I first met him 'cos of his height. But how quickly I warmed up to him didn't strike you as odd, Akane?"

And Sayoko was being rather generous in saying she was 'wary'. The truth was somewhat distant from that.

* * *

"Wh-Who're you again?" A soft voice came from behind what Taiki would assume were the Operator's screens.

"Uh, I'm Kudoko Taiki. I'm looking for Nasu-senpai?" Taiki could barely make out the girl behind the mass of screens.

"R-Right. Erm, sh-she's out for the moment, b-but you can go wait in our l-lounge in the m-meantime." The shy girl did not emerge from behind the screens, and Taiki could barely make out what she was saying.

"If you're not comfortable with me Senpai, I can wait outside?" Taiki had heard from Izumi that the Nasu Squad Operator was a very quiet and reserved girl, especially around members of the opposite gender.

"S-Senpai? Are you younger than me?" The girl finally peeked over her screens, cowering a little as she saw how tall Taiki was.

"Erm, from what Izumi-senpai told me, I believe I'm a year younger than you, Senpai." Taiki bowed a little to his supposed senior.

"R-Really? You're younger than me? You're bluffing, aren't you?" The timid girl retreated behind her screens again.

"Erm, here." Taiki reached over and put his identification on her table, "You can check that if you don't believe me, I guess."

As soon as Taiki's hand retracted from the table, the girl slowly reached for the identification. After looking at the date-of-birth, she seemed a little less tense.

"R-Right. W-Well, erm, Kudoko-kun, please wait in the lounge for Nasu-san. Oh, and I'm Shiki Sayoko." Sayoko finally mustered the courage to introduce herself to her junior as she peeked out from behind her screens to look him in the eyes.

"Thank you, Shiki-senpai." Taiki nodded as he headed toward the lounge, "And pardon my intrusion."

* * *

"Hey, why does Akane call you 'senpai'?" A familiar soft spoken voice caught Taiki by surprise.

"Sayoko-senpai! Erm, isn't she younger than me?" Taiki raised a curious eyebrow at the sudden question.

"No? I'm pretty sure you guys are the same age." Sayoko wore a mischievous grin, "But nevermind that. You haven't called me 'senpai' in front of her, have you?"

"No, I don't think I have, why?" Taiki sensed something was up with a bizarre questions, but he could not quite put his finger on what was wrong.

"Well, in that case, can you start addressing me as 'Sayoko-san' instead?" The mischievous grin was replaced by a sheepish smile, "I think it might help with my issues if you started addressing me that way."

"Oh, you mean how you don't talk to guys very well?" Taiki set aside the momentary suspicion as his senior seemed to be asking for help with something rather serious.

"Y-Yeah. That." Sayoko sighed sheepishly, "I mean, no offense, you don't look younger than me. But having you call me 'senpai' reminds me that you are younger than me. So I was hoping maybe you could address me differently."

Watching Sayoko shuffle around in silence, Taiki was reminded of the day they first met. Understanding what Sayoko was asking for, Taiki agreed.

"Well, if it might help you deal with that better, I don't mind Sayoko-san." Taiki smiled warmly at his senior, "Just let me know if you're too uncomfortable, alright?"

"Erm, yeah. I think this is fine. You're a big help, Taiki, thanks." Sayoko seemed grateful to Taiki's willingness to help.

Little did Taiki know, he had just agreed to being an accomplice in a very grand yet pointless prank.

* * *

"No way! You tricked Taiki into helping you?" Akane was in utter shock as Sayoko revealed why Taiki had addressed her as 'Sayoko-san' thus far.

"No, I didn't trick him. I was kinda seriously asking him for help, and pranking you in the meantime just came naturally!" Sayoko betrayed none of her intentions as she giggled a little, "And if you don't mind, Taiki, I would still appreciate if you could continue to address me this way. I think I've gotten a little better at dealing with guys after you stopped addressing me as 'senpai'."

"R-Right. I don't mind, Sayoko-san." Taiki could only sigh a little as he recalled the same incident, "Well, now that we've cleared up this little misunderstanding, you can stop calling me 'senpai', right Akane?"

Akane was beyond words as she buried her face into her hands, squealing softly. Sayoko laughed harder at Akane's embarrassment, eliciting a whimper from Akane. Uncertain about how to react, Taiki could only sit in awkward silence as he watched the two.

* * *

"Dang, all Akane was worth was one arm?" Kumagai sighed a little as Nasu and herself faced Taiki in a standoff.

"It's better than nothing." Nasu sighed as well.

Akane could only grumble to herself as she heard her teammates comments over comms, whilst Sayoko helped herself to laughing at Akane's expense.

"Well, a guy can do a lot with an arm. And my right arm to boot." Taiki had to offer his two-cents as he sealed the Trion leakage the best he could.

"Are you making a dirty joke?" Kumagai snickered a little, Nasu also giggling along.

"Not -really." Taiki leaped off a Grasshopper mid sentence, Scorpion clashing with Kogetsu.

The sheer force was more than enough to knock Kumagai over. Coupled with how sudden the attack came, Kumagai was knocked to the ground before she could even blink. Green and yellow flashed across the battlefield as an extended Scorpion blade flew one way, while some Viper came from the opposite direction.

Nasu could only sigh a little as she stared at the Scorpion piercing through her chest, cracks emerging from the point of penetration. Looking over at Taiki, it seemed her Viper had done enough damage as well, the Scorpion piercing her began disintegrating as Taiki's Trion body leaked from various wounds.

"Trion Supply damaged. Trion Body limit reached. Bailing Out." Nasu could only flash Kumagai a smile as a green light consumed her before shooting off into the sky.

"Substantial damage received. Trion Body limit reached. Bailing Out." Taiki sighed as the green light consumed him as well.

"Friendly Mock Battle between B-Rank Kudoko Taiki and B-Rank Nasu Squad has come to an end. B-Rank Nasu Squad is victorious." The automated system announced as it closed the virtual battlefield, ejecting Kumagai.

* * *

"That was a good fight, Taiki-kun! It's a pity you didn't take Kuma-chan down with that attack." Nasu received a bottle of sports drink from Sayoko, "It would have ended in a tie otherwise."

"Well, I never planned to take Yuuko-senpai out with that attack though." Taiki chuckled as he also accepted a bottle from Sayoko, "Thanks, Sayoko-san."

"Really? I find that hard to believe. You came at me pretty fiercely, y'know?" Kumagai had already taken a few sips from her bottle.

"Ahh!" Taiki gasped as he gulped down the cool, refreshing sports drink, "Yeah, I had to clear a path to take out Rei-senpai. I was planning to finish you off after I took out Rei-senpai, but I guess I severely underestimated my Trion reserves."

"Oh? And why come after me first?" Nasu's gentle smile curled into a more cunning grin, "Did you want some one-on-one time with Kuma-chan?"

"Pbrfft!" Taiki choked on his drink, coughing out whatever liquids he had yet to swallow.

"Sheesh, do you really have to tease him while he's drinking, Rei?" Kumagai gave Taiki a gentle tap on his back, as he wheezed and gasped for air.

"Oh dear. I didn't expect Taiki-kun to react so violently!" Nasu chuckled a little, handing Taiki a towel to wipe himself.

Taking the towel between bouts of wheezes and coughs, Taiki gave his mouth a wipe.

"Y-You know that's not the reason, Rei-senpai!" Nasu caught the towel aimed at her as she continued chuckling at her unfortunate junior.

"Well, maybe I'd be more inclined to believe you if you didn't react so strongly, yknow?" Nasu smiled innocently as she watched Taiki catch his breath.

"I think anyone else would've reacted so strongly to something so sudden, Rei-senpai." Finally catching his breath, Taiki gave Nasu a blank stare, "And besides, I'm sure you already know, but I'm gonna say it anyways. You're a bigger threat to me than Yuuko-senpai is, Rei-senpai. The obvious decision would have been to eliminate the bigger threat first."

"I totally get where you're coming from, Taiki, but do you really have to say it so bluntly?" Kumagai's gentle demeanor cracked, her eyebrow twitching.

"Uh- Gah-" And Kumagai was on Taiki like white on rice, wrestling him into a chokehold.

The rest of Nasu Squad broke into laughter as Taiki grumbled and groaned at the abuse. Kumagai did not relinquish as the group decided to get lunch. Taiki was finally released after the girls decided they wanted to freshen up a little before lunch, and he was then quite forcibly ejected from the Nasu Squad premise. What with being a guy and all.

* * *

A/N: Hi guys, apologies for the really slow update, but it took awhile for me to decide on what I wanted to expand on in this chapter. My original plan was to let this chapter follow the events of the Black Trigger Retrieval Arc, but as I wrote my different iterations it felt weird to just jump straight into such a major event seeing as I ended the first chapter on the Rad Extermination Arc. So eventually I decided that it would probably be a better idea to further expand on Taiki instead. The relationships he has with other Border agents, how he got to becoming a "Perfect" All-Rounder and all that kind of stuff. Because as much as I established some context to Taiki in the first chapter, I realised there's still a lot more that I needed to establish before I can put him into active roles in other major plot points of World Trigger. So yeah, hopefully you guys can forgive me for not having too much action in this chapter as I was really just trying to add more context to my OC and how he fits in with the World Trigger universe. Also, feel free to leave your thoughts on a potential OCxKumagai romance in the future! It's something I might do, and I have hinted at it this chapter, but if you guys don't think it's appropriate or you guys rather just have them be close friends, do let me know as well! I'm also open to other ships you guys might be interested in, let me know and I'll try to include some "fanservice" for those who are interested! ;p


	3. Happy Birthday Kumagai Yuuko

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but my OC and reimagined plot points. All rights go to their respective owners. Please support Ashihara Daisuke by purchasing official World Trigger serializations from trusted sources.

* * *

 **A/N: A bit of context of this celebratory oneshot: this is set a little in the future of the World Trigger universe, whereby big events like the Second Large Scale and Galopoula Invasion has occurred, alongside the Rank Wars leading up to the Away Mission that has been established thus far. So this is going to be a very "slice-of-life" chapter with possibly a little bit of spoilers to my Fic's progression? Anyways, hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

As the Sun hung lazily in the late afternoon sky, three university students were coming to the end of their group study session. As the study session was drawing to its close, one of its members was frantically packing their belongings.

"That's rare that you're rushing, did you get activated for a mission or something?"

"That can't be, he hasn't gotten a call from HQ the whole time we were studying, right?"

"Oh, that's right. So what's gotten Taiki so frantic?"

Osamu and Ai began speculating about Taiki's frantic behaviour as they began packing up as well. Taiki, however, did not seem to notice his friends' talking about him. Between shoving his belongings into his bag and glancing at the clock on the library's wall, Taiki did not have the attention span for his friends at the moment.

"Hey Taiki! Where are you in a rush to?"

Ai waved her hands in front of Taiki, snapping him out of his frantic packing. Osamu and Ai both blinked in surprise as Taiki flinched a little.

"Oh, right. I forgot you guys were still here. Ah- Erm- Ah- I'm meeting Yu-Nasu Squad today to celebrate Yuuko-san's birthday."

"You know you don't have to pretend, right? Everyone at HQ knows you and Kumagai-san are dating."

"Wait, Taiki and Kumagai-senpai are dating?"

"Okay, almost everyone."

Ai sighed and corrected herself as Osamu, once again, proved to be oblivious about things that did not involve the Tamakoma Branch directly. Taiki did not look up as he continued to pack the last of his belongings

"Look, those rumours have been going on forever. You really haven't heard of 'em before, Osamu?"

Taiki betrayed nothing as he dodged the claim, leaving Ai to raise an eyebrow questioningly as she eyeballed him hard. Osamu nodded a little as he seemed to recall hearing about the rumour at some point in time.

"You're really going to meet with the whole of Nasu Squad?"

"Yes, I am. We agreed to celebrate her birthday together! Everybody made time for this today, y'know? It's not easy to gather university students working under Border afterall."

Ai had to concede to Taiki's point, as even this study session the three of them just ended did not come by easily. With patrols, defense missions, Rank Wars and the like, being a Border agent was time consuming enough. Add a packed university schedule and you get really busy individuals who barely had much time for leisure. So much so, that even a study session amongst peers like this could count as leisure.

"Well, I'll go on ahead. See you guys around!"

"Send Kumagai-senpai my regards, Taiki!"

"Yeah, send Kumagai-san mine as well."

"Sure thing!"

And with that, Taiki departed from the group and library, quickly making his way through the hallways of the university. Whilst Taiki was not lying about meeting with Nasu Squad today, he had planned on surprising Yuuko beforehand, hence his rush. While everyone was studying in the same university, their faculties were quite scattered across the campus, and in order to get from the library to Yuuko's faculty, Taiki needed a whole ten minutes on foot.

At least, that would be the time required if Taiki was brisk walking and not running and jumping over every obstacle in his way. At his pace, Taiki reached Yuuko's faculty building in two and a half minutes flat, and managed to catch her just as she was just leaving her lecture with her classmates.

"Yuuko-senpai!"

Taiki called out to her after catching his breath. Yuuko turned over and smiled as she saw Taiki walking over.

"Oh, it's Boyfriend-san! Guess we better make ourselves scarce!"

"How sweet! He's here to celebrate your birthday, right?"

"Well, happy birthday! Enjoy your date with your boyfriend!"

"Girls! I told you it's not like that! Sheesh!"

Yuuko's classmates giggled amongst themselves as they left the two on their own. Shaking her head a little at her friends, Yuuko turned to greet Taiki with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't we agree to meet at the family restaurant?"

"We did, but I figured I could come by and surprise you before that!"

"You're really not helping the rumours, y'know?"

"Well, it's not like they're completely untrue, right?"

Yuuko sighed deeply as she rapped Taiki's arm gently, before linking arms together.

"So, there's a reason you came to pick me up, right? I don't believe you just wanted to walk together."

"Cutting to the chase, eh?"

"Yup! So spill, what's the real reason you came to pick me up from my lecture?"

"Fine. It's this."

And Taiki sheepishly took out a little gift bag, before handing it over, a wrapped gift sitting within. Yuuko eyeballed the bag and its content expectantly as she accepted it.

"Can I open this now?"

"Please do. But it's really not much though. I just thought it'd be better to give this to you when we're alone then with Rei-senpai and the others around."

"Aw, are you getting embarrassed? I still can't get used to how bashful you get at times like this. But it's a side of you I really like too!"

Yuuko smiled brightly as she broke from their arm link and opened Taiki's gift. After getting through the nicely done gift wrap, Yuuko could only smile at the engraved cloud-shaped plate sitting inside its box. And engraved on the plate was none other than Yuuko's name in full. Taking the plate out of the box revealed it to be attached to a simple chain, and on the reverse side of the plate was a symbol for Aries.

"Thanks Taiki, it looks beautiful."

"Erm- Want me to put it on for you?"

"Yes please!"

Yuuko handed the necklace to Taiki as she grabbed her ponytail and lifted it. Taiki moved behind her and gently brought the chains around Yuuko's neck before latching the hook and catch. Yuuko looked down at the plate sitting on her chest, and smiled to herself. Pulling Taiki close, Yuuko linked arms with Taiki once again as they continued on their way.

"I really should've seen this coming, huh."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I guess I did somewhat see this coming, but I kinda forgot about it halfway through the day. Afterall, you didn't do anything when you wished me a happy birthday this morning."

"Ah, right. Well, the necklace was only ready for pick-up at lunchtime, so I couldn't give it to you any earlier even if I wanted to. But with that being said, once again, happy birthday Yuuko."

"Thanks! I really appreciate this! Oh, but we should hurry a little before we're too late."

"Ah, you're right! Oh! Osamu and Ai send their birthday wishes as well."

"Aww, remind me to thank them the next time I see them, yeah?"

And so the two merrily chatted about their day as they continued on into the setting sun.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's it for the birthday oneshot! I just thought I'd do something to commemorate my best girl's birthday during this period, since I have plenty of time on my hands. And I'm still working on Chapter 3, so look forward to that! Though I don't have any tentative release date right now, I'm definitely still working on it! Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this more laidback setting and a big happy birthday to Kumagai Yuuko!**


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